At enim quosdam mouet quod aequaliter cum gentilibus nostros morbi istius ualitudo corripiat: quasi ad hoc crediderit christianus, ut immunis a contactu malorum mundo et saeculo feliciter perfruatur et non hic omnia aduersa perpessus ad futuram laetitiam reseruetur. mouet quosdam quod sit nobis cum ceteris mortalitas ista communis. quid enim nobis in hoc mundo non commune cum ceteris, quamdiu adhuc secundum legem primae natiuitatis manet caro ista communis? quoadusque istic in mundo sumus, cum genere humano carnis aequalitate coniungimur, spiritu separamur. itaque donec corruptiuum istud induat incorruptionem, et mortale hoc accipiat inmortalitatem, et spiritus nos perducat ad Deum patrem, quaecumque sunt carnis incommoda sunt nobis cum humano genere communia. sic cum fetu sterili terra ieiuna est, neminem fames separat: sic cum inruptione hostili ciuitas aliqua possessa est, omnes simul captiuitas uastat, et quando imbrem nubila serena suspendunt, omnibus siccitas una est, et cum nauem scopulosa saxa confringunt, nauigantibus naufragium sine exceptione commune est, et oculorum dolor et impetus febrium et omnium ualitudo membrorum cum ceteris communis est nobis, quamdiu portatur in saeculo caro ista communis. ‖302‖ Sic Abraham Deo placuit, quia ut placeret Deo nec amittere filium timuit nec gerere parricidium recusauit. qui filium non potes lege et sorte mortalitatis amittere, quid faceres, si filium iubereris occidere? ad omnia te paratum facere timor Dei et fides debet. sit licet rei familiaris amissio, sit de infestantibus morbis adsidua membrorum et cruenta uexatio, sit de uxore, de liberis, de excedentibus caris funebris et tristis auulsio: non sint tibi offendicula ista sed proelia, nec debilitent aut frangant christiani fidem, sed potius ostendant in conluctatione uirtutem, cum contemnenda sit omnis iniuria malorum praesentium fiducia futurorum bonorum. nisi praecesserit pugna, non potest esse uictoria, cum fuerit in pugnae congressione uictoria, tunc datur uincentibus et corona. gubernator in tempestate dinoscitur, in acie miles probatur. delicata iactatio est, cum periculum non est: cum est conflictatio in aduersis, probatio est ueritatis. arbor quae alta radice fundata est uentis incumbentibus non mouetur et nauis quae forti conpage solidata est pulsatur fluctibus nec foratur, et quando area fruges terit, uentos grana fortia et robusta contemnunt inanes paleae flatu portante rapiuntur. Sic et apostolus Paulus post naufragia, post flagella, post carnis et corporis multa et grauia tormenta non uexari sed ‖305‖ emendari se dicit aduersis, ut dum grauius adfligitur uerius probaretur. datus est mihi, inquit, stimulus carnis meae, angelus satanae qui me colafizet ut non extollar. propter quod ter Dominum rogaui ut discederet a me, et dixit mihi: sufficit tibi gratia mea. uirtus enim in infirmitate perficitur. quando ergo infirmitas et inbecillitas et uastitas aliqua grassatur, tunc uirtus nostra perficitur, tunc fides si temptata perstiterit coronatur, sicut scriptum est: uasa figuli probat fornax et homines iustos temptatio tribulationis. hoc denique inter nos et ceteros interest qui Deum nesciunt, quod illi in aduersis queruntur et murmurant, nos aduersa non auocant a uirtutis et fidei ueritate, sed conprobant in dolore. Hoc quod nunc corporis uires solutus in fluxum uenter euiscerat, quod in faucium uulnera conceptus medullitus ignis exaestuat, quod adsiduo uomitu intestina quatiuntur, quod oculi ui sanguinis inardescunt, quod quorundam uel pedes uel aliquae membrorum partes contagio morbidae putredinis amputantur, quod per iacturas et damna corporum prorumpente languore uel debilitatur incessus uel auditus obstruitur uel caecatur aspectus, ad documentum proficit fidei. contra tot inpetus uastitatis et mortis inconcussis animi uirtutibus congredi quanta pectoris magnitudo est, quanta sublimitas in ruinis humani generis stare rectum nec cum eis quibus spes in Deum nulla est iacere prostratum et gratulari magis et temporis munus amplecti, quod dum nostram fidem firmiter promimus et labore tolerato ad ‖306‖ Christum per angustam Christi uiam pergimus, praemium uiae eius et fidei ipso iudicante capiamus. mori plane timeat, sed qui ex aqua et spiritu non renatus gehennae ignibus mancipatur. mori timeat qui non Christi cruce et passione censetur. mori timeat qui ad secundam mortem de hac morte transibit. mori timeat quem de saeculo recedentem perennibus poenis aeterna flamma torquebit. mori timeat cui hoc mora longiore confertur, ut cruciatus eius et gemitus interim differatur. Multi ex nostris in hac mortalitate moriuntur, hoc est multi ex nostris de saeculo liberantur. mortalitas ista Iudaeis et gentibus et Christi hostibus pestis est, Dei seruis salutaris excessus est. hoc quod sine ullo discrimine generis humani cum iniustis moriuntur et iusti, non est quod putetis malis et bonis interitum esse communem. ad refrigerium iusti uocantur, ad supplicium rapiuntur iniusti: datur uelocius tutela fidentibus, perfidis poena. inprouidi et ingrati sumus, fratres dilectissimi, ad beneficia diuina nec quid nobis conferatur agnoscimus. excedunt ecce in pace tutae cum gloria sua uirgines uenientes antichristi minas et corruptelas et lupanaria non timentes. pueri periculum lubricae aetatis euadunt, ad continentiae adque innocentiae praemium feliciter ueniunt. tormenta iam non timet delicata matrona metum persecutionis et manus cruciatusque carnificis moriendi celeritate lucrata. pauore mortalitatis et temporis accenduntur trepidi, constringuntur remissi, excitantur ignaui, desertores conpelluntur ut redeant, gentiles coguntur ut credant, uetus fidelium populus ad quietem uocatur, ad aciem recens et copiosus exercitus robore ‖307‖ fortiore colligitur pugnaturus sine metu mortis, cum proelium uenerit, qui ad militiam tempore mortalitatis accedit. Quid deinde illud, fratres dilectissimi, quale est, quam pertinens, quam necessarium, quod pestis ista et lues quae horribilis et feralis uidetur explorat iustitiam singulorum et mentes humani generis examinat, an infirmis seruiant sani, an propinqui cognatos pie diligant, an misereantur seruorum languentium domini, an deprecantes aegros non deserant medici, an feroces uiolentiam suam conprimant, an rapaces auaritiae furentis insatiabilem semper ardorem uel metu mortis extinguant, an ceruicem flectant superbi, an audaciam leniant inprobi, an pereuntibus caris uel sic aliquid diuites largiantur et donent sine herede morituri. ut nihil aliud mortalitas ista contulerit, hoc christianis et Dei seruis plurimum praestitit quod martyrium coepimus libenter adpetere, dum mortem discimus non timere. exercitia sunt nobis ista, non funera: dant animo fortitudinis gloriam, contemptu mortis praeparant ad coronam. Sed fortasse aliquis opponat et dicat: ‘hoc me ergo in praesenti mortalitate contristat quod qui paratus ad confessionem fueram et ad tolerantiam passionis toto me corde et plena uirtute deuoueram martyrio meo priuor, dum morte praeuenior’. primo in loco non est in tua potestate sed in Dei dignatione martyrium, nec potes te dicere perdidisse quod nescis an merearis accipere. tunc deinde Deus scrutator est renis et cordis et occultorum contemplator et cognitor, uidet et conlaudat te et conprobat et qui perspicit aput te paratam fuisse uirtutem reddit pro uirtute mercedem. nec enim sanguinem Deus nostrum sed fidem quaerit. Denique ut manifestius diuinae prouidentiae indicia clarescerent quod Dominus praescius futurorum suis consulat ad ueram salutem, cum quidam de collegis et consacerdotibus nostris ‖309‖ infirmitate defessus et de adpropinquante morte sollicitus commeatum sibi precaretur, adstitit deprecanti et iam paene morienti iuuenis honore et maiestate uenerabilis, statu celsus et clarus aspectu et quem adsistentem sibi uix possit humanus aspectus oculis carnalibus intueri, nisi quod talem uidere iam poterat de saeculo recessurus. adque ille non sine quadam animi et uocis indignatione infremuit et dixit: ‘pati timetis, exire non uultis, quid faciam uobis?’ increpantis uox et monentis, qui de persecutione sollicitus, de arcessitione securus non consentit ad praesens desiderium sed consulit in futurum. audiuit frater noster et collega moriturus quod ceteris diceret. nam qui moriturus audiuit, ad hoc audiuit ut diceret: audiuit non sibi ille sed nobis. nam quid disceret iam recessurus? didicit immo remanentibus, ut dum sacerdotem qui commeatum petebat increpitum esse conperimus, quid cunctis expediat nosceremus. Nobis quoque ipsis minimis et extremis quotiens reuelatum est, quam frequenter adque manifeste de Dei dignatione praeceptum est, ut contestarer adsidue, ut publice praedicarem fratres nostros non esse lugendos arcessitione dominica de saeculo liberatos, cum sciamus non amitti sed praemitti, recedentes praecedere, ut proficiscentes, ut nauigantes solent, desiderari eos debere, non plangi nec accipiendas esse hic atras uestes, quando illi ibi indumenta alba iam sumpserint, occasionem dandam non esse gentilibus, ut nos merito ac iure reprehendant, quod quos uiuere aput Deum dicimus ut extinctos et perditos lugeamus et fidem quam sermone et uoce depromimus cordis et pectoris testimonio non probemus. spei nostrae et fidei ‖310‖ praeuaricatores sumus, si simulata, si ficta, si fucata uidentur esse quae dicimus. nihil prodest uerbis praeferre uirtutem et factis destruere ueritatem.

But some people are troubled because the force of this disease strikes our people just as it strikes the pagans. As if a Christian had become a believer in order to enjoy the world and this life in happiness, safe from any touch of trouble! As if he were not meant to suffer every hardship here and so be kept for the joy to come! Some are troubled that this mortality falls on us and on everyone else alike. But what in this world do we not share with everyone else, as long as we still live in this flesh that we all share under the law of our first birth? While we remain here in the world, the flesh joins us to the rest of the human race; it is the spirit that sets us apart. So until this corruptible body puts on incorruption, and this mortal body receives immortality, and the spirit leads us home to God the Father, the troubles of the flesh are ours as much as anyone's. When a barren harvest leaves the land hungry, famine spares no one. When an enemy invades and takes a city, captivity ruins everyone together. When clear skies hold back the rain, the drought is the same for all. When jagged rocks smash a ship, everyone on board shares the shipwreck, without exception. In the same way, sore eyes, attacks of fever, and sickness in every part of the body are ours as much as anyone's, as long as we carry this shared flesh through the world. Abraham pleased God in just this way: to please God, he did not fear to lose his son, and he did not refuse to kill him with his own hand. You cannot bear to lose a son to the law and lot that all mortals share. How would you act if you were ordered to kill him? The fear of God and faith should make you ready for anything. You may lose your property. Disease may attack your body and torment it without rest, until it bleeds. Death may tear you away, in sorrow and mourning, from your wife, from your children, from the loved ones who leave you. Do not let these things be stumbling blocks for you; let them be battles. They should not weaken or break a Christian's faith. Instead they should show his courage in the struggle, since trust in the good things to come should make us scorn every injury from the evils of today. Without a fight first, there can be no victory, and when the victory is won in the clash of battle, then the winners receive the crown as well. A pilot is known in a storm; a soldier proves himself on the battle line. Boasting is easy when there is no danger. When there is a struggle in hard times, then the truth is tested. A tree set firm on a deep root does not move when the winds beat against it. A ship built solid with strong joints is pounded by the waves, but they do not break through. And when grain is threshed on the threshing floor, the strong, heavy kernels scorn the wind, while the empty chaff is snatched up and carried away on the breeze. The apostle Paul, too, after shipwrecks, after whippings, after many cruel torments of flesh and body, says that hardships did not harm him but made him better, so that the harder he was struck, the more truly he was proven. "A thorn was given me in my flesh," he writes, "an angel of Satan to beat me, so that I would not become proud. Three times I begged the Lord to take it away from me, and he said to me, 'My grace is enough for you, for strength is made perfect in weakness.'" So when weakness and frailty and ruin of any kind rage among us, that is when our strength is made perfect, and when our faith, if it holds firm under testing, wins its crown, as Scripture says: "The furnace tests the potter's jars, and the trial of trouble tests the righteous." In the end, this is what separates us from the others, who do not know God. In hard times they complain and grumble. But hard times do not draw us away from true courage and faith; they prove us true in our pain. The bowels now loosen into a flux and drain the body of its strength. A fire that starts deep in the marrow boils up into sores in the throat. The guts are shaken by constant vomiting. The eyes burn red with the force of the blood. In some people the feet, or other parts of the limbs, are cut off by the contagion of the diseased rot. In others the body is so damaged and broken as the sickness bursts out that they are left lame, or deaf, or blind. All of this serves to prove our faith. What greatness of heart it takes to meet so many attacks of ruin and death with a mind that does not waver! What nobility, to stand upright among the ruins of the human race, instead of lying flat on the ground beside those for whom there is no hope in God! Rather, we should rejoice and welcome the gift this time brings. The gift is this: by firmly showing our faith, bearing our hardships, and pressing on to Christ along Christ's narrow way, we may win the reward of his way and of our faith, with Christ himself as our judge. Let him fear to die, by all means: the one who has not been born again of water and the spirit, and is handed to the fires of Gehenna. Let him fear to die who has not been counted as Christ's through his cross and suffering. Let him fear to die who will pass from this death to the second death. Let him fear to die whom the eternal flame will torture with endless punishments as soon as he leaves the world. Let him fear to die for whom a longer delay brings only this: his torment and his groaning are put off for a while. Many of our people are dying in this mortality. That is to say, many of our people are being set free from the world. This mortality is a plague to the Jews and the pagans and the enemies of Christ; to the servants of God it is a departure that brings salvation. It is true that the just die along with the unjust, with no distinction made within the human race. But that gives you no reason to think that the good and the wicked meet the same end. The just are called to refreshment; the unjust are dragged off to punishment. Protection comes sooner to those who keep faith, and punishment sooner to the faithless. We are shortsighted and ungrateful for God's gifts, dearest brothers, and we do not see what is being given to us. Look: virgins are leaving this life in peace and safety, their glory whole, and with no need to fear the threats, the corruption, and the brothels of the coming Antichrist. Boys escape the dangers of their unsteady years and come happily to the reward of self-control and innocence. The delicate married woman no longer fears torture. By dying quickly, she has escaped the fear of persecution and the executioner's hands and torments. Fear of the mortality and of these times sets the timid on fire, braces the slack, and wakes the lazy. Deserters are compelled to return; pagans are driven to believe. The faithful of long standing are called to their rest, while a fresh and plentiful army gathers for the battle line, stronger than before. Those who enlist during the mortality will go into battle unafraid of death when the fight comes. And then, dearest brothers, think what this means: how fitting it is, how necessary. This plague and pestilence, which seems so terrible and deadly, searches out the justice of each person and tests the minds of humankind. It asks whether the healthy serve the sick, whether relatives truly love their own family, and whether masters pity their sick slaves. It asks whether doctors stand by the sick who beg for their help, and whether the fierce hold back their violence. It asks whether the greedy, at least for fear of death, will put out the fire of their raging greed, which nothing ever satisfies. It asks whether the proud will bend their necks and the shameless will tame their boldness. And it asks whether the rich, at least now, as their loved ones die and they face death without heirs, will give something away. Even if this mortality had done nothing else, it has done Christians and servants of God this great service: we have begun to seek martyrdom gladly, while we are learning not to fear death. For us these are training exercises, not funerals. They bring the mind the glory of courage, and by teaching us to scorn death they prepare us for the crown. But perhaps someone will object: "This is what grieves me in the present mortality. I was ready to make my confession. I had given myself with my whole heart and all my courage to enduring a martyr's suffering. Now death has come first, and I am robbed of my martyrdom." First of all, martyrdom does not lie in your power; it lies in God's gift. And you cannot say you have lost something when you do not know if you would have deserved to receive it. Then, too, God searches the heart and the inmost being; he sees and knows what is hidden. He sees you, and he praises and approves you. He sees that the courage was ready in you, and for that courage he pays the reward. For what God seeks is not our blood but our faith. To make the signs of God's providence shine out still more clearly, and to show that the Lord, who knows the future, looks after his own and their true salvation, something happened to a colleague of ours, a fellow bishop. He was worn out by illness and anxious as death drew near, and he prayed to be granted a reprieve. As he prayed, already close to death, a young man stood beside him, awe-inspiring in honor and majesty, tall and shining to look at. Human eyes of flesh could hardly have looked at him standing there, except that the bishop, about to leave the world, could already see such a being. With some anger in his heart and his voice, the young man growled: "You are afraid to suffer. You do not want to leave. What am I to do with you?" It was the voice of one who scolds and warns. Concerned about persecution and untroubled by the summons, he would not give in to the wish of the moment but looked to the future. Our brother and colleague heard, as he was about to die, what he was to tell the rest of us. He heard it as he was dying so that he could pass it on: he heard it for us, not for himself. After all, what was there for him to learn when he was already leaving? No, he learned it for those of us who remain, so that when we hear that a bishop who asked for a reprieve was scolded, we would understand what is good for us all. And to me, too, the least and lowest of all, how often this has been revealed! How often and how clearly God in his kindness has commanded me to bear witness constantly and to preach in public that our brothers whom the Lord's summons has set free from the world must not be mourned. For we know they are not lost; they are sent on ahead. In leaving us, they go before us. We should miss them as we miss travelers, or people who have set sail, but not wail over them. We should not put on black clothes here when they have already put on white robes there. We must not give the pagans good reason to blame us. They would be right and just to blame us if we mourned as dead and lost the very people we declare to be alive with God, and if the witness of our hearts did not prove the faith we profess with our words. We betray our own hope and faith if what we say seems pretended, false, painted on. It does no good to show courage in words and destroy the truth with deeds.

But nevertheless it disturbs some that the power of this Disease attacks our people equally with the heathens, as if the Christian believed for this purpose, that he might have the enjoyment of the world and this life free from the contact of ills; and not as one who undergoes all adverse things here and is reserved for future joy. It disturbs some that this mortality is common to us with others; and yet what is there in this world which is not common to us with others, so long as this flesh of ours still remains, according to the law of our first birth, common to us with them? So long as we are here in the world, we are associated with the human race in fleshly equality, but are separated in spirit. Therefore until this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal receive immortality, and the Spirit lead us to God the Father, whatsoever are the disadvantages of the flesh are common to us with the human race. Thus, when the earth is barren with an unproductive harvest, famine makes no distinction; thus, when with the invasion of an enemy any city is taken, captivity at once desolates all; and when the serene clouds withhold the rain, the drought is alike to all; and when the jagged rocks rend the ship, the shipwreck is common without exception to all that sail in her; and the disease of the eyes, and the attack of fevers, and the feebleness of all the limbs is common to us with others, so long as this common flesh of ours is borne by us in the world. Thus Abraham pleased God, who, that he might please God, did not shrink even from losing his son, or from doing an act of parricide. You, who cannot endure to lose your son by the law and lot of mortality, what would you do if you were bidden to slay your son? The fear and faith of God ought to make you prepared for everything, although it should be the loss of private estate, although the constant and cruel harassment of your limbs by agonizing disorders, although the deadly and mournful wrench from wife, from children, from departing dear ones; Let not these things be offences to you, but battles: nor let them weaken nor break the Christian’s faith, but rather show forth his strength in the struggle, since all the injury inflicted by present troubles is to be despised in the assurance of future blessings. Unless the battle has preceded, there cannot be a victory: when there shall have been, in the onset of battle, the victory, then also the crown is given to the victors. For the helmsman is recognised in the tempest; in the warfare the soldier is proved. It is a wanton display when there is no danger. Struggle in adversity is the trial of the truth. The tree which is deeply founded in its root is not moved by the onset of winds, and the ship which is compacted of solid timbers is beaten by the waves and is not shattered; and when the threshing-floor brings out the corn, the strong and robust grains despise the winds, while the empty chaff is carried away by the blast that falls upon it. Thus, moreover, the Apostle Paul, after shipwrecks, after scourgings, after many and grievous tortures of the flesh and body, says that he is not grieved, but benefited by his adversity, in order that while he is sorely afflicted he might more truly be proved. “There was given to me,” he says, “a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be lifted up: for which thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me; and He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for strength is made perfect in weakness.” When, therefore, weakness and inefficiency and any destruction seize us, then our strength is made perfect; then our faith, if when tried it shall stand fast, is crowned; as it is written, “The furnace trieth the vessels of the potter, and the trial of tribulation just men.” This, in short, is the difference between us and others who know not God, that in misfortune they complain and murmur, while adversity does not call us away from the truth of virtue and faith, but strengthens us by its suffering. This trial, that now the bowels, relaxed into a constant flux, discharge the bodily strength; that a fire originated in the marrow ferments into wounds of the fauces; that the intestines are shaken with a continual vomiting; that the eyes are on fire with the injected blood; that in some cases the feet or some parts of the limbs are taken off by the contagion of diseased putrefaction; that from the weakness arising by the maiming and loss of the body, either the gait is enfeebled, or the hearing is obstructed, or the sight darkened;—is profitable as a proof of faith. What a grandeur of spirit it is to struggle with all the powers of an unshaken mind against so many onsets of devastation and death! what sublimity, to stand erect amid the desolation of the human race, and not to lie prostrate with those who have no hope in God; but rather to rejoice, and to embrace the benefit of the occasion; that in thus bravely showing forth our faith, and by suffering endured, going forward to Christ by the narrow way that Christ trod, we may receive the reward of His life and faith according to His own judgment! Assuredly he may fear to die, who, not being regenerated of water and the Spirit, is delivered over to the fires of Gehenna; he may fear to die who is not enrolled in the cross and passion of Christ; he may fear to die, who from this death shall pass over to a second death; he may fear to die, whom on his departure from this world eternal flame shall torment with never-ending punishments; he may fear to die who has this advantage in a lengthened delay, that in the meanwhile his groanings and his anguish are being postponed. Many of our people die in this mortality, that is, many of our people are liberated from this world. This mortality, as it is a plague to Jews and Gentiles, and enemies of Christ, so it is a departure to salvation to God’s servants. The fact that, without any difference made between one and another, the righteous die as well as the unrighteous, is no reason for you to suppose that it is a common death for the good and evil alike. The righteous are called to their place of refreshing, the unrighteous are snatched away to punishment; safety is the more speedily given to the faithful, penalty to the unbelieving. We are thoughtless and ungrateful, beloved brethren, for the divine benefits, and do not acknowledge what is conferred upon us. Lo, virgins depart in peace, safe with their glory, not fearing the threats of the coming Antichrist, and his corruptions and his brothels. Boys escape the peril of their unstable age, and in happiness attain the reward of continence and innocence. Now the delicate matron does not fear the tortures; for she has escaped by a rapid death the fear of persecution, and the hands and the torments of the executioner. By the dread of the mortality and of the time the lukewarm are inflamed, the slack are nerved up, the slothful are stimulated, the deserters are compelled to return, the heathens are constrained to believe, the ancient congregation of the faithful is called to rest, the new and abundant army is gathered to the battle with a braver vigour, to fight without fear of death when the battle shall come, because it comes to the warfare in the time of the mortality. And further, beloved brethren, what is it, what a great thing is it, how pertinent, how necessary, that pestilence and plague which seems horrible and deadly, searches out the righteousness of each one, and examines the minds of the human race, to see whether they who are in health tend the sick; whether relations affectionately love their kindred; whether masters pity their languishing servants; whether physicians do not forsake the beseeching patients; whether the fierce suppress their violence; whether the rapacious can quench the ever insatiable ardour of their raging avarice even by the fear of death; whether the haughty bend their neck; whether the wicked soften their boldness; whether, when their dear ones perish, the rich, even then bestow anything, and give, when they are to die without heirs. Even although this mortality conferred nothing else, it has done this benefit to Christians and to God’s servants, that we begin gladly to desire martyrdom as we learn not to fear death. These are trainings for us, not deaths: they give the mind the glory of fortitude; by contempt of death they prepare for the crown. But perchance some one may object, and say, “It is this, then, that saddens me in the present mortality, that I, who had been prepared for confession, and had devoted myself to the endurance of suffering with my whole heart and with abundant courage, am deprived of martyrdom, in that I am anticipated by death.” In the first place, martyrdom is not in your power, but in the condescension of God; neither can you say that you have lost what you do not know whether you would deserve to receive. Then, besides, God the searcher of the reins and heart, and the investigator and knower of secret things, sees you, and praises and approves you; and He who sees that your virtue was ready in you, will give you a reward for your virtue. For God does not ask for our blood, but for our faith. Besides, that the indications of the divine providence may be more evidently manifest, proving that the Lord, prescient of the future, takes counsel for the true salvation of His people, when one of our colleagues and fellow-priests, wearied out with infirmity, and anxious about the present approach of death, prayed for a respite to himself; there stood by him as he prayed, and when he was now at the point of death, a youth, venerable in honour and majesty, lofty in stature and shining in aspect, and on whom, as he stood by him, the human glance could scarcely look with fleshly eyes, except that he who was about to depart from the world could already behold such a one. And he, not without a certain indignation of mind and voice, rebuked him, and said, You fear to suffer, you do not wish to depart; what shall I do to you? It was the word of one rebuking and warning, one who, when men are anxious about persecution, and indifferent concerning their summons, consents not to their present desire, but consults for the future. Our dying brother and colleague heard what he was to say to others. For he who heard when he was dying, heard for the very purpose that he might tell it; he heard not for himself, but for us. For what could he, who was already on the eve of departure, learn for himself? Yea, doubtless, he learnt it for us who remain, in order that, when we find the priest who sought for delay rebuked, we might acknowledge what is beneficial for all. To myself also, the very least and last, how often has it been revealed, how frequently and manifestly has it been commanded by the condescension of God, that I should diligently bear witness and publicly declare that our brethren who are freed from this world by the Lord’s summons are not to be lamented, since we know that they are not lost, but sent before; that, departing from us, they precede us as travellers, as navigators are accustomed to do; that they should be desired, but not bewailed; that the black garments should not be taken upon us here, when they have already taken upon them white raiment there; that occasion should not be given to the Gentiles for them deservedly and rightly to reprehend us, that we mourn for those, who, we say, are alive with God, as if they were extinct and lost; and that we do not approve with the testimony of the heart and breast the faith which we express with speech and word. We are prevaricators of our hope and faith: what we say appears to be simulated, feigned, counterfeit. There is no advantage in setting forth virtue by our words, and destroying the truth by our deeds.